Metallica Announce ‘Back to the Front’ Book With New Video

Metallica's Back to the Front book is finally coming out. After starting work on the book – which promises to be "the definitive story of Master of Puppets and the subsequent tour that followed its release" – two years ago and teasing pages from it earlier this year, drummer Lars Ulrich shows up in a new video with details and a publication date.

The book will be available on Sept. 13, with a Collector's Edition hitting the band's website two weeks earlier, on Aug. 30.

"Two years in the making, we’re beyond excited to finally share it with you," the band says in the official announcement. "You all jumped in to assist us in putting the pieces together by sending your photos, videos, stories and mementos. We hit the storage lockers, attics and basements to fill the book with hundreds of never-before-seen images pulled from our personal archives and have been involved every step of the way to bring you the complete story."

The Deluxe Edition is housed in a case that includes a hardcover, cloth-bound and limited-edition copy of the 276-page book and a portfolio featuring a 1.25” x 1.25” piece of the road case used to send Metallica's equipment to Denmark for the recording of their landmark album.

Metallica started work on Back to the Front with writer Matt Taylor in 2014, asking fans to send in stories and photos from 1986, when Master of Puppets, and the tour that followed, rocketed them to metal stardom. The book is made up of those submissions as well as much material from the band's personal archives, including new interviews with band members, crew and other artists that were around during the making of the landmark album.

There's also an update on the promised expanded version of Master of Puppets, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. "We’re pretty sure that some of you will wonder about the remastered versions of Master of Puppets we told you were in the works," the band writes. "They still are! As we keep digging in the vaults, we’re finding more and more music and video so that we can bring you an even bigger, more comprehensive, no-stone-unturned version of the album."